It was back inside Arizona Stadium Wednesday night for the Wildcats' latest scrimmage. It was an interesting evening as the team moved practice in the stadium the day before a day off. There was certainly not as much energy as the previous night when Kevin Sumlin was more vocal than usual. The team will have Thursday completely off before getting back to work Friday evening and Saturday morning.
Saturday will be the next scrimmage day for the team.
Wednesday night's practice was a little bit different than the others in terms of what the team was working on. The media wasn't allowed to watch any part of the scrimmage and unlike previous practices there was no one-on-one portion during the media viewing period. That meant only the chance to watch individual work for the most part.
Here's a rundown of what I noticed and took away from Wednesday's practice.
Notes and observations
* I'll start with the groups I watched closely and who stood out from those units. For Wednesday's practice I spent a lot of my time watching the safety and running back groups. Those are two of the position groups that workout on parts of the practice field the media is not permitted to see up close, so I wanted to take my opportunity to watch them with practice inside the stadium since it is easier to get a look at them in there.
- Michael Wiley: There has been a lot of talk about the freshman running back from Texas and he continues to look the part in a lot of areas. He showcased the quickness that everyone has talked about during drills Wednesday. There are a lot of guys he will have to battle for playing time, but all indications right now have been that he will get on the field in some capacity. UA has a lot of options at the running back position, but Wiley is someone the staff looks like it is preparing to have ready for games and that will give UA someone else to take some of the workload off JJ Taylor's shoulders.
- Christian Young: The sophomore safety is coming into his own and stepping into an important role for the Wildcats. He is going to step into the starting bandit role that was held down by Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles for so long and he is looking like someone who has the chance to upgrade the position with how he has practiced so far during camp. He moves well and his understanding of the game seems to be continuing to improve giving him a nice comfort factor when he's out on the field.
- Derrion Clark: I don't know how the freshman linebacker will fit into things this season, but it does feel like he's bound for some kind of role. There has been a lot of talk about him so far in camp and while he is currently the third middle linebacker being used he will certainly be used on special teams. Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer raved about him Wednesday night after practice and Thomas Reid III, one of UA's star special teams players, picked the linebacker from Dallas as one of the young standouts of camp. I watched the linebacker group for some of the open portion as well and he was making some athletic plays on an interception drill and it will be interesting to see how much he ends up getting to help defensively for UA this season.
* Injury wise Arizona is still without the help of receiver Jaden Mitchell who was on the sidelines again Wednesday although he continues to suit up. It's the same case for sophomore cornerback McKenzie Barnes who has also continued to suit up but not do much during the open portion of practice. Barnes' absence has left the door open for Christian Roland-Wallace to gain plenty of experience with the second unit and that should help once the season arrives.
I didn't mention this after Tuesday's practice, but Jalen Johnson is back with the team after having surgery on his thumb. Of course, he is not practicing but he is able to watch practice from the sidelines and he seems to be staying engaged as best he can. He does have a big wrap around his hand right now.
* I also spent a little bit of my time watching the offensive line group at the start of practice and I will say that it is going to be interesting to see what Kyle DeVan is going to do up front with the starting unit. There is still mixing and matching going on up front outside of the three returning starters – Cody Creason, Donovan Laie and Josh McCauley – and there still doesn't feel like DeVan has that "settled" feeling about that starting unit. We have seen some different faces in there this week from Robert Congel to Paiton Fears and Josh Donovan and Edgar Burrola. Bryson Cain has looked solid during camp as well and it will be interesting to see how he fits into the picture by the time camp arrives.
It feels like there is enough talent there to get the job done, but right now it's about finding the right combination of players who work best. It doesn't seem to me that the mixing and matching right now is for the sake of getting players ready to step in and play with other groups simply with the forethought of potential injuries down the line and someone needing to step in. It truly feels like there is still some figuring out being done by the staff as to who it wants to have as part of that starting group still.
I'll have to see what it looks like once practice picks up again over the next couple days.
Videos
Photo gallery
Practice No. 11 photos (click link)
Saturday will be the next scrimmage day for the team.
Wednesday night's practice was a little bit different than the others in terms of what the team was working on. The media wasn't allowed to watch any part of the scrimmage and unlike previous practices there was no one-on-one portion during the media viewing period. That meant only the chance to watch individual work for the most part.
Here's a rundown of what I noticed and took away from Wednesday's practice.
Notes and observations
* I'll start with the groups I watched closely and who stood out from those units. For Wednesday's practice I spent a lot of my time watching the safety and running back groups. Those are two of the position groups that workout on parts of the practice field the media is not permitted to see up close, so I wanted to take my opportunity to watch them with practice inside the stadium since it is easier to get a look at them in there.
- Michael Wiley: There has been a lot of talk about the freshman running back from Texas and he continues to look the part in a lot of areas. He showcased the quickness that everyone has talked about during drills Wednesday. There are a lot of guys he will have to battle for playing time, but all indications right now have been that he will get on the field in some capacity. UA has a lot of options at the running back position, but Wiley is someone the staff looks like it is preparing to have ready for games and that will give UA someone else to take some of the workload off JJ Taylor's shoulders.
- Christian Young: The sophomore safety is coming into his own and stepping into an important role for the Wildcats. He is going to step into the starting bandit role that was held down by Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles for so long and he is looking like someone who has the chance to upgrade the position with how he has practiced so far during camp. He moves well and his understanding of the game seems to be continuing to improve giving him a nice comfort factor when he's out on the field.
- Derrion Clark: I don't know how the freshman linebacker will fit into things this season, but it does feel like he's bound for some kind of role. There has been a lot of talk about him so far in camp and while he is currently the third middle linebacker being used he will certainly be used on special teams. Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer raved about him Wednesday night after practice and Thomas Reid III, one of UA's star special teams players, picked the linebacker from Dallas as one of the young standouts of camp. I watched the linebacker group for some of the open portion as well and he was making some athletic plays on an interception drill and it will be interesting to see how much he ends up getting to help defensively for UA this season.
* Injury wise Arizona is still without the help of receiver Jaden Mitchell who was on the sidelines again Wednesday although he continues to suit up. It's the same case for sophomore cornerback McKenzie Barnes who has also continued to suit up but not do much during the open portion of practice. Barnes' absence has left the door open for Christian Roland-Wallace to gain plenty of experience with the second unit and that should help once the season arrives.
I didn't mention this after Tuesday's practice, but Jalen Johnson is back with the team after having surgery on his thumb. Of course, he is not practicing but he is able to watch practice from the sidelines and he seems to be staying engaged as best he can. He does have a big wrap around his hand right now.
* I also spent a little bit of my time watching the offensive line group at the start of practice and I will say that it is going to be interesting to see what Kyle DeVan is going to do up front with the starting unit. There is still mixing and matching going on up front outside of the three returning starters – Cody Creason, Donovan Laie and Josh McCauley – and there still doesn't feel like DeVan has that "settled" feeling about that starting unit. We have seen some different faces in there this week from Robert Congel to Paiton Fears and Josh Donovan and Edgar Burrola. Bryson Cain has looked solid during camp as well and it will be interesting to see how he fits into the picture by the time camp arrives.
It feels like there is enough talent there to get the job done, but right now it's about finding the right combination of players who work best. It doesn't seem to me that the mixing and matching right now is for the sake of getting players ready to step in and play with other groups simply with the forethought of potential injuries down the line and someone needing to step in. It truly feels like there is still some figuring out being done by the staff as to who it wants to have as part of that starting group still.
I'll have to see what it looks like once practice picks up again over the next couple days.
Videos
Photo gallery
Practice No. 11 photos (click link)
